By Katie Curley Katzman
Sure, being an Olympic athlete takes stamina, strength and talent. But Kathy Searles, a local licensed registered dietitian, knows it also takes a good mix of food and fluids.
Searles recently attended a workshop at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, where she got an education in what athletes in each winter sport need for peak performance. Now, Searles, who is studying to become a certified specialist in sports nutrition through the American Dietetic Association, hopes to apply that knowledge in helping both elite, serious, and not-so-serious athletes maximize their potential.
"I never realized before how different each physique is for each sport," said Searles, who recently opened a private practice in Newburyport and Beverly and works with the wrestling team at The Governor's Academy in Byfield, where she lives.
While at the Olympic Training Center, Searles resided and dined at the same places the athletes do, which gave her a glimpse into their lives. She also gained an understanding of the specific dietary challenges athletes in the various sports face, in addition to the training regimen they must follow.
"What struck me as funny was they had plates of muffins out, and one plate had large-sized muffins and another mini-muffins for the gymnasts," she said.
Where figure skaters and gymnasts need to be light and lean, downhill skiers are at their best heavy with a muscular build, Searles said. So, that means large portions and healthy fats and sweets for alpine skiers, while gymnasts and figure skaters must restrict fat intake and portion size.
Cross-country skiers require endurance, so they need lots of carbohydrates to be well-fueled, she said. But Nordic combined athletes must be prepared for both cross-country skiing and ski jumping, so their diet and training must be different.
"There are two needs there, fueling for endurance, but also you have to be light to be able to fly," she said of Nordic combined athletes.
Searles said the formulas must also take into account the fact athletes typically weigh considerably more than an average person of the same size and age.
"Muscle weighs more than fat," she said. "That's why you have (downhill skier) Lindsey Vonn at 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds look like she does. That doesn't look like an unhealthy 160 pounds to me. She's at the upper end of weight, but muscle has a higher volume."
Searles also studies issues affecting appearance-based athletes like figure skaters and gymnasts, including female athlete triad, a syndrome that involves an eating disorder, amenorrhea (lack of menstrual cycle) and low bone density. It is associated with inadequate intake of calories and results in fatigue, decreased performance and stress fractures.
"They have to maintain their stamina but not put any weight on because even a pound will create an imbalance," she said. "There is pressure to maintain a certain weight, but they also have to be incredibly strong."
Searles points to Rachael Flatt, who won the U.S. women's figure skating championships last month and is headed to the Olympics, as an example of how her stockier build resulted in more muscle, giving her an advantage over other competitors such as former Olympian Sasha Cohen, who is lithe and lean.
Searles, who also works at Carrabassett Valley Academy in Maine where elite snowboarders and skiers train, said many of the principles Olympians must follow also can apply to weekend athletes. For example, the key for getting through a winter workout that's one or two hours long is hydration.
"In winter sports, you have to keep hydrated, and of course, you don't feel hot, sweaty and thirsty, so you don't feel like you need to," Searles said. "But at high altitudes and in the cold, your body is getting dehydrated."
But more than nutrition, Searles said she tries to impart the "Olympian mentality" to those she counsels.
"Of course, eat and drink enough," she said. "But do what is fun."
She reminds the people she works with that elite athletes first got into the sport they now excel at because it was fun.
"There was a Nike commercial with (alpine skier) Bode Miller for (the 2006 Winter Olympics in) Turino," Searles said. "He said, 'When you're little, you play, not because you're good or you want to make the team, but because it's fun. Stop worrying about making the team and have fun."
While a lot of training and work goes into being an athlete, Searles said based on her experience, those who excel have fun.
"It's just not fun if you're hungry and your blood sugar is low," she said. "We lose sight that we all have to perform, whether at sports, at work, in school. We all have to be playing for fun."
Olympic-sized performance
An average size, sedentary 30-year-old male requires 2,400 to 2,500 calories a day; for women, the range is 1,900 to 2,000 calories.
The average cross-country skier needs and can burn up to 7,000 calories in one day.
Nordic combined competitors need 7,000 calories for cross-country skiing and another 2,000 calories for ski jumping.
Americans are obsessed with low-carb diets, but nutritionist Kathy Searles said carbohydrates are needed for performance. Protein, though, is a great way to recover after an activity or workout, she says.
Skiers who need to stay hydrated at high altitudes often take warm sports drinks to the top of the mountain so they don't freeze.
The majority of injuries occur when athletes are tired, dehydrated and hungry, Searles said. Most ski accidents happen at the end of the day.
